US, EU envoys satisfied with talks with BiH political leaders

“We are here to express the solidarity of the United States of America and the European Union for Bosnia and Herzegovina, on its transatlantic path, to give support to BiH on its path to membership in the EU,” Matthew Palmer, said after the meeting with leaders of BiH political parties which he assessed as good and constructive.

"A lot needs to be done and there is still a lot of work ahead of us. Although it’s not easy to achieve what is wanted, the talks with political leaders were very good," Palmer said.

He added they were surprised by the quality of talks and the fact that political leaders showed readiness to reach an agreement that will benefit the country and its progress, as well as all BiH citizens.

"We have no solutions, but what we have is the desire and will to help and encourage talks, in order to somehow give that feeling, an 'injection' of urgency - how important and urgent it is to resolve these issues as soon as possible," Palmer told the press adding that “there is a chance the issues of the reform of the BiH Election Law, limited constitutional reform, but also the economic reform, as well as issues that need to be resolved in order for BiH to move towards prosperity and stability be done that this year, which is a non-election year.”

The Managing director for Western Europe, Western Balkans, Turkey and United Kingdom (EEAS) Angelina Eichhorst, called the talks very good and constructive as well.

The goal of the talks with the US envoy to the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer and her, she said, is to encourage BiH political actors to finally start working on important topics, including the implementation of relevant European Court of Human Rights judgments, in the area of rule of law.

"We have had an extremely good dialogue so far in which we’ve touched upon the implementation and recommendations of the OSCE, regarding the election process. We have heard a lot of encouraging messages, and the main goal of those messages is to eliminate discrimination established by legal provisions in BiH. The goal is to eliminate discrimination, corruption in the election process, prevent election fraud and other violations of the BiH Election Law," said Eichhorst.